By Sylvester Gawi in Mendi Local community leaders have taken charge of care centres in the Southern Highlands province of Papua New Guinea as they await food, clothing and other relief supplies to be delivered. Acting Southern Highlands Provincial Administrator Thomas Eluh said six care centres had been set up around SHP by locals. The […]

By Scott Waide of EMTV News While the multibillion dollar mammoth petroleum company Exxon declared “force majeur” and another counted its financial losses, one family from Magarima in the Southern Highlands was this weekend mourning the devastating loss of their last born son and his young family. Twenty-one-year-old Jack Wapol Mawe had already run out […]

Elizabeth Tondoa appeals to Southern Highlands musicians to join her in next week’s fundraising concert. Video: EMTV News Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Southern Highlands singers Elizabeth Tondoa and Augustine Emil are calling on all fellow musicians from their region to come together to hold a concert in Port Moresby next week to raise funds for […]

Communities struck by the 7.5 magnitude earthquake in Papua New Guinea’s Hela province remain confused as aftershocks continue. Despite the arrival of National Disaster Officers in Tari yesterday, many remain traumatised. Video: EMTV News By Gorethy Kenneth in Port Moresby The Papua New Guinea government has declared an immediate state-of-emergency for the earthquake-devastated provinces of […]

Professor Chalapan Kaluwin of the University of Papua New Guinea’s School of Natural and Physical Sciences says the country should prepare itself for more natural disasters. EMTV News By Scott Waide of EMTV News Our biggest challenge as Papua New Guinean journalists has been verifying the statistics from rural areas with limited resources. As much […]

Two PNGDF helicopters had been deployed to the earthquake-hit Highlands region to assist National Disaster officials carry out initial assessment, says Chief-of-Staff Colonel Ray Numa. Video: EMTV News By Johnny Poiya in Mendi Fourteen people have been killed in Papua New Guinea’s Southern Highlands and Hela Provinces by the powerful earthquake and aftershocks that hit […]

By Jeffrey Elapa in Port Moresby More than 30 people are believed to have been killed in the massive 7.5 magnitude Papua New Guinean earthquake that hit Hela and Southern Highlands Provinces yesterday. Provincial authorities say more than 300 mainly villagers have been injured and properties destroyed. Although the communication network into the two provinces […]

By Philip Cass of Kaniva News Tonga’s churches are failing to provide leadership over climate change and it is up to young people to join with church goers to take action, according to research by an Anglican priest. Speaking at last week’s Pacific Ocean Climate Change conference in Wellington, Fr Laiseni Fanon Charisma Liava‘a said […]

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says the New Zealand government’s Pacific Mission will take place early next month and travel to Tonga, Samoa, Niue, and the Cook Islands. “It will be an honour to have the Pacific Mission led by the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and is a further sign of […]

By Kalino Latu, editor of Kaniva News As Tonga struggles to recover from Cyclone Gita, authorities are looking for somewhere to host the next Parliamentary sessions next month. Parliament needs a place to meet between March 1-15 so MPs can process bills and laws that are required for the government’s 2018-2019 budget. A Parliamentary spokesperson […]

By Kalino Latu. editor of Kaniva News The Tongan government’s efforts to assess the extent of destruction by Tropical Cyclone Gita have been hindered by falling trees and downed power poles. The Minister of Disaster Management, Poasi Tei, said teams of government assessors had been dispatched to villages and towns to report on damage caused […]

By Kalino Latu, editor of Kaniva News The Tongan government has welcomed New Zealand’s offer to donate $750,000 and personnel assistance in the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Gita’s destruction. The NZ government has a military plane with assistance ready to go once it is safe to land in Tonga. Tonga’s Minister of Police Māteni Tapueluelu […]

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Severe Tropical Cyclone Gita has left a trail of destruction after hitting Tonga with 200 kph plus winds during the night. RNZ reports that on the main island of Tongatapu in the kingdom, the category four cyclone had ripped roofs off houses, brought down trees, destroyed a Catholic church, and took […]

By Kalino Latu, editor of Kaniva News An overnight curfew was in place in Tonga tonight as the kingdom awaited the full force of Cyclone Gita, which was threatening to become a devastating category five storm. Tropical Cyclone Gita bearing down on Tonga. Image: earth.nullschool.net Tonga Police Commissioner Stephen Caldwell ordered a curfew in the […]

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Tonga has declared a state of emergency today in preparation for severe Tropical Cyclone Gita as it threatens to hit the southern part of the kingdom with a potential category 5 force tonight, reports Matangi Tonga. Acting Prime Minister Semisi Sika announced the state of emergency at 10am, saying this was […]

OPINION: By Mata’afa Keni Lesa, editor of the Samoa Observer Tropical Cyclone Gita has left just as quickly as it arrived on Friday night and yesterday morning. Within six hours, it left hundreds of people devastated as a result of strong winds and flooding. Folks, it sends shivers down the spine to think what more […]

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Tropical Cyclone Gita might be slowing moving away from Samoa but the danger is far from over and a state of disaster has been declared. Gita, which has been lashing both Samoa and American Samoa with torrential rain and damaging winds, was upgraded to a category two as it caused flooding, […]

What if your country was swallowed by the sea? Kiribati (pop. 100,000) is one of the first countries that must confront the main existential dilemma of our time – imminent annihilation from sea-level rise. This documentary, Anote’s Ark, has been blamed by Kiribati immigration officials for their block on foreign journalists. Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk A […]

Coming ashore … seven ferry disaster survivors reach Kiribati and tell their stories. Image: TVNZ video clip By Barbara Dreaver, TVNZ’s Pacific correspondent With 93 people still missing, the first reports of survival – and loss – are starting to emerge from the sunken ferry MV Butiraoi in Kiribati. In the first interview with Radio […]